Improvement in washing-machines



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ALFRED M. BAlLEY, or MIDDLEEIELD, ooNNEoTIoUT, AssiGNoR To THE METEoP-)LITAN wAs-mNe-MnoHINE COMPANY..

Letters Patent No. 113,130, dated March 28, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom it may concern Beit known thatl, ALFRED M. BAILEY, of' Middleeld, in the county of. Middlesex and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new' and useful luiprovemen'ts in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

.My invention relates to what is known as the Doty washing-machine, in which the clothes are washed by being subjected tothe action of a swinging dash'' hoard'within the tub, as described in reissued Letters Patent granted to William M. Doty on the 17th of March, 1868, No. 2,897.

In the use'of' the machine it was found that it required considerable labor t'o lift fthe handle attached to the swinging dash-board, and, to remedy this diihculty, springs were combined with the journals of the dash-board, which, after the handle. was pulled down to throw forward the board 'againsttlie front of the tub, would, by their recoil, serve to..throw back the dash-board', and thus materially lessenrthe labor of liftingor swinging upward the handle. 'But the use of springs is attended with the objection that, in order'l to be of any assistance in 'throwing up the handle, they must necessarily be compressed or tightened when the handle is drawn down, and they thus offer a resistance to the downward movement oi' the handle,

Ywhich resistance increases in proportion to 4the descent of the handle, and is greatest when the dash board is delivering its blow upon the clothes-the very time when the movement of the board should be leastimpeded. And the effect of the spring is, in short, not so much to lessen the labor'of operating the handle as to transfer' the-resistance which is required to vbe overcome from one part oi' the movement tcanother.

The object of my invention is .to-remedy this dithculty, so that the dasher may be moved with equal facility in eitherf direction, and thereby be operated with greater easev and more effective] y than has heretofore been practicable. 'To this endl dispense entirely 'with the springs, and combine with the dasher and its operating-lever or handle a balance-weight, united with and applied to the same, iusuclr manner that it will allow the handle to be moved up or down with facility, and will also impart increased momentum to the dasher in its forward or downward stroke, for the better expulsion of the waterl from the clothes.

To enableothers skilled in' the art to understand and use my invention, I will nowproceed to describe the manuel-in which the same is or may be carried into ei'ect by reference to the accompanying drawing,

in which- Figure l is a perspective View of a washing-ma- .Chine in which my invention is embodied.

Figure 2 isl a longitudinal vertical section of 'oneofu the segmental metallic arms, to which the dashr is attached.

Iwill conne'my descriptionto the parts immediately connected with my invention. A

The general construction of the machine is set forth in the reissue Letters Patent above -referred to, and also in Letters Patent No. 173,701, dated January 28, 1868, and is too wellknown'to require a detailed description here.

AThe dash-board Ais'hnng within the clothes-tub or receptacle'B, 'npon suitable journals a, to which journals recoil-'springs have' been hitherto applied, as above stated.

The journals are formed on segmental arms C, to which the dasher .isi attached.

Thehandie D, which operates the dasher, fits in soclnetsj-n.v the arms in thel usual manner.

lnca'rrying out my invention 1 apply tov the frame which supports thc dasher, and ouethe side of the axis aopposite to that on which. the handle is located, a weight, E, connected withfsai'd trame either rigidly or so that it can,..b e removed when desired. l The weight is-,preferably so arranged and located, with. relation to the dasherand handle, vthat when the latter is drawn down to throw forward the dasher the weight E will be a little morethan connterbalanced, as indicated in' g.1, this arrangement enabling the forward stroke of the dasher tobe delivered with ease and great ei` fectiveness, producing percussive action on the clothes, which is very essential for their thorough and rapid washing. i

The weight may be applied to and connected with the dasher, or its frame or handle, by any suitablemeans. Y When segmental arms, such as represented in fig. 2, are employed, I prefer to provide a slightly-tapering socket, t, formed in one piece with the arm, as-

shown, into which nts a correspondiugly-tapered shank orspindle, c, attached to or making part ofthe weight E. The object of tapering the socket and shank is that, when the dash-board is thrown forward, the jar occasioned by the blow it delivers upon the clothes may tend-to force'and jam the tapering shank more tightly in its socket, and thus preventing the removable weight from being thrown vout of place. The

if desired.

The weight thus combined with the dashcr and handle serves to counterbalance, to a great `extent, the said parts,vnot only enabling them to be moved with greater facility than hitherto practicable, but increasing the momentum of the dasher, and thereby making its'actionupon the clothes more effective. vWiththearrangement -described springs are notl necessary; jbut itis obvious that by applyinga weight I socket and shank may, however, be otherwise shaped, o

clothes washing-machine such as described, in lieul if or in connection with the ordinary springs around he journalslof the dash-board, of a weight for counerbalancing said parts, substantially as and for the gurposes set forth. l

` 2. The comb'nation, with the dasher and 4its segnental arm or frame, of the socket connectedwith :he said arm, and the weight provided with a shank fitting said socket, under the arrangements substantially as shown and described.

3. The metallic segmental arm for supporting the dasher and handle, when formed with a socket for the reception of the shank -of the weight, as shown and set forth.

4. The combination, with the tapering socket formed intheswinging dasher-frame or arm, of a removable weight, provided with a correspondingly-tapered shank which lits said socket, substantially as and for the purposes shown and set forth. Y

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses. Witnesses: ALFRED M; BAILEY;

l WM. .1). RICHARDSON,

LYMAN A. MILLS. 

